Friday, August 31, 2007

In a meeting with trustees of a Florida university, Holbrook reportedly said some who lived in Tosu's campus area had a "culture of rioting" and looked for any excuse to have "drunken orgies."

Holbrook apparently made the comments while interviewing for the top job at something called Florida Gulf Coast University.

"I went to Ohio State and had no idea there was a culture of rioting," Holbrook told the trustees. "Any good excuse gets some of the people on the street and they think it's fun to flip cars and have absolute drunken orgies."

[UPDATE: Today's Columbus Dispatch reports the the actual quote, which was provided to them by the Fort Myers, Fla., school, was:

"When you win a game, you riot. When you lose a game, you riot. When spring comes, you riot. African-American Heritage Festival weekend, you riot. They think it's fun to flip cars, to really have absolute drunken orgies. … I don't want to be at a place that has this kind of culture as a norm."

Although, in the Dispatch story, Holbrook says she might have exaggerated the "drunken orgies" part.

Even more telling than Holbrook's remarks in the Dispatch article were those of the former chairmen of the OSU Board of Trustees, Dan Slane, who claimed rowdy fan behavior was never unique to Ohio State saying, "Look at what happens in Europe. They literally kill people at soccer matches."

First off, this goes a long way toward explaining where the "it's not just us, it's everywhere" mentality originates that is often used as an excuse for what happens in C-bus: right at the top with the Board of Trustees. Second, boy, heck of a high standard Mr. Slane sets for fan behavior. I mean hey, as long as nobody gets killed, what are a couple fires and flipped cars? Hell, it can't be that bad, right?]

This is the same Karen Holbrook who, in the wake of 40+ fires, 38 some arrests and a flipped over car following last November's Michigan-OSU game, praised Buckeye fans in a press release, saying, "For the second consecutive Michigan game in Columbus, we have had safe celebrations. While we will continue to look for ways to make additional improvements, we have turned the corner on fan behavior." She also said, "our fans proved they are, indeed, 'The Best Fans in the Land."

I guess that's Best Damn Fans in the Land Who Like to Riot, Flip Over Cars and Have Drunken Orgies.

Now, naturally hearing such tales of decadent Buckeye behavior came as a complete and utter shock to me. As one who has constantly stood up for the class of Buckeye fans and their hospitality toward rival visitors in Columbus, you could have knocked me over with a feather when I heard such allegations from the former President of the university.

Put it this way, for me, hearing such news is right up there with the surprise I felt when George Michael of WHAM! fame revealed that he was gay. Now, as then, I thought, "It can't be true."

But, alas, it just might be.

Thus, it is truly a dark day when Columbus - the symbolic birthplace of good sportsmanship for the game I love - now appears not to be college football's shining city upon a hill whose beacon light guides the rest of us.

Sadly, it turns out that light might have been coming from the glow of a fan-started fire...next to a burning, flipped over car...right before the drunken orgies started.

I don't know if I'll ever get over this shock.

ED. NOTE: In an effort to cut down on spam in our comments section, allow me to offer a reply to the above for any Buckeye fans who might have just read the post and incorrectly assume I take joy in hearing such stunning news: 1-5, bitches! Fuck Michigan! We own your asses! It's the same in Ann Arbor, dicks! What about Jim Harbaugh you stupid pieces of shit?!

Hope that saved our Tosu friends a ton of hunt and peck typing time today.

Also, you (you personally) didn't believe her when she said everything was fine in C-bus on gameday (after the UM game last year), so how can you selectively claim she's being truthful now?

The truth is, i really don't care what Karen Holbrook says. As far as you, nothing that i say can change your mind. I'm not proud of the fact some OSU fans are idiots, but i'm tired of listening to "powedered doughnut" stories.

It's not a badge of honor thing, and i don't need you to explain to me what class is, when it comes to cheering for my team. If you guys want to get together, have some wine and shrimp cocktails, and shake your keys during the game i'm not stopping you. But if i want to drink some Guiness, have some burgers and enjoy the game my way, i will.

i've never been rude to an opposing team's fans (friendly banter doesn't count), but i can't be responsible to EVERYONE that travels up to c-bus on gameday, just like you're not responsible for people throwing beer bottles at me in A2 (which i don't really care about).

As far as the article, i think it would be better if people took responsibility rather than saying "everyone else is doing it too". But it'll never happen.

SiC- what people think of OSU fans as a group really doesn't bother me. When i was growing up in USSR, i kept reading in papers that all americans are imperialist assholes. The people that put it in papers wrote it so many times, that i think they started believing it. But when i moved to this country i found things out for myself. I'm not sure which part of C-bus you're from, but if you really think all of OSU fan base is what you wrote, i feel very sorry for you. I'll be happy to have you over at the house for a game, to prove to you that we can be as hospitable as any other fans in the world (just not the first couple of games: i don't have BTN)

LAS-as a CBJ season ticket holder, i can tell you that the NHL crowd in cowtown is definitely different than most to the tosu crowd. if anything, it's too tame (but having the worst record in hockey year in, year out, will do that to you).

wingrg,if you're sincere, then thank you for the invitation. i've lived here 17 years. most of my friends, wife, and two of the kids are tosu fans. i know that they're not all dicks (though we have one or two at the thanksgiving table).

the problem is not that tosu has that many more dicks & violent drunks than most crowds, it's that they are so easily tolerated, even encouraged. when a bunch of drunks on Lane knock down an old man in maize & blue, do you try to help him? or just laugh?

look at your own comments- if you don't like being assaulted at football games, stay home?

tosu fans think they can hide from responsibility by saying "it wasn't me" and then encourage the ill behavior by saying "well, you had it coming" or " don't like it, stay home", and then bitch about how they were treated in madison or A2.

it's your crowd. it's your reputation. you own it. live w/ it. or do something about it. but understand that tolerating it makes you part of the problem. and trying rationalize or deny it makes you sound silly to anyone who has ever seen it (including a lot of tosu fans).

where in my post did i mention Communism and dictatorship? Seems that you can't read. I grew up in Moscow in the 80s, you might consider it communist, i consider it HOME.

SiC,yes, i'm sincere, and i understand and respect your opinion. I try to apologize for idiotic behavior when i witness it, but in the end, Holbrook (university president) couldn't change the culture here, and neither will i. I guess i'll just live with it. As far as my comments, i'm just tired of the complaints: and it's what i do, if i don't like the atmosphere somewhere, i don't go there (seems like a logical thing to do)

Here's the problem I have with Holbrook's comments. Whether or not you agree with her (and I tend to think that lumping "ALL Ohio State fans" into an orgy-infested, riot-creating crowd isn't accurate), it's the fact that she said it during an interview with another school.

Now, if I resigned from my current job and said all this shit to a potential new one, I find it very hard to believe I'd even get that job. It's just sour grapes on her part, true or not. It shows a complete lack of class, tact, and really, ethics. Regardless of how she felt, she should not call out a former employer to a new one.

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